No decent organization in the NFL thinks only year-to-year about financial situations. Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider is thinking about who to release and who to sign in free agency this year, but he is also thinking beyond that. Teams that consistently get themselves in a bad way in terms of the salary cap think too much about the immediate future.
Seattle does have some roster issues to address before free agency in March. The team currently has negative cap space, so players such as Dre'Mont Jones (those players with expensive contracts who have underperformed) will likely need to be let go to create more cap room.
Other players, though, might still be cheaply under contract for 2025 and might be worthy of extending past next year. These might be glue players who do the little things to help the team succeed. Three of those players follow, plus one who might simply need to stick around as a backup.
Four Seattle Seahawks sleepers who need extensions in the near future
Wide receiver Jake Bobo
Bobo was underused in 2024 after having a surprisingly decent rookie season in 2023. He was an undrafted player who earned the respect of his teammates in his first training camp. He also does the dirty work of blocking and he excels at it.
The receiver would likely be much more of a red zone target with an offensive coordinator who knows how to use him that way. He has shown he can make tough catches in tight spots, so former offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb not using Bobo is goal-line situations when the team greatly struggled in the red zone is nearly criminal.
Bobo is a restricted free agent in 2026, but there is no reason not to sign him to an extension now at a cheap rate. He is almost certain to stay as a productive WR4 for the Seahawks for several more years.
Safety Coby Bryant
Bryant has had a couple of chances to start for Seattle in his career. As a rookie, he played in the slot, and he was just...OK. He then transitioned to safety and played sparingly. His teammates always championed him in training camp, though, because he worked hard and created turnovers in practice. He simply wasn't getting his chances to do the same in real action.
That was until the second half of this season after an injury to starter Rayshawn Jenkins led Bryant to take over the strong safety spot. His quarterback rating allowed was a very good 75.9, and he allowed just one touchdown pass. He also had three interceptions. It remains to be seen if he can replicate his performance over an entire season next year, but the guess here is that he can.
Long snapper Chris Stoll
In 2023, Stoll was named the top long snapper in the league by Pro Football Focus (subscription required). The trick with his position is that one only notices a long snapper if they mess up. With the Seahawks, few have been forced to notice Stoll. Instead, 12s can reflect on the seasons Stoll has had and know he could hold down his position longer than almost any other player on the team.
He is only 26 years old and could be with Seattle for the next six years or more. There is no reason not to go ahead and lock up Stoll past 2025.
Quarterback Sam Howell
The question in Seattle about the quarterback position is whether Geno Smith will be the starter past 2025. The team could choose to draft a quarterback the following year and have them be the starter in 2026. The fact is that this year's draft class is not good enough to count on any player to be certain to be great. Seattle also has no chance to draft one of the top two prospects, Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward.
Why not lock up Howell for a few more years? He is likely not going to have a big market in free agency in 2026, and having a consistent backup quarterback is a good thing. Then all Seattle would have to worry about is who the starter is.